Ao Nang Beach.

For the past few days I decided to take a vacation within my vacation and fly down to the south beaches of Thailand.

Kanchanaburi

I've been in Thailand for a week now! After several days exploring the city, it felt like it was time to head out and see somewhere else. The destination was Kanchanaburi, a city about two hours (without traffic) west of Bangkok by van. Apparently these vans have a tendency to make frequent stops for gas, snacks, or random errands, but we made great time. We were at the hostel with time to spare before watching the sunset. The Jolly Frog Backpackers Hostel was definitely a budget hostel, but it was relatively clean and right on the river with a great restaurant and lots of space. And cats. An absurd number of cats. Cutest form of pest control.

The next day we ventured out to Erawan National Park to see some waterfalls. The park is about an hour outside of the city by bus. It had amazing blue water, similar to the falls on the Havasupai Native American Reservation in Arizona. These were not quite as tall, and much closer together. And they definitely had fish in them. These fish were not afraid to nibble at your toes or feet. It's one of the more bizarre feelings in the world.

After dinner on Tuesday, we wandered out to the road with most of the backpackers bars. We found some live reggae to listen to. Reggae in Thai is pretty cool.

On Wednesday, we headed up the river 2 km to a famous railway bridge called the Bridge over the River Kwai. This is a section of the 258 mile roadway between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma that Japan built during World War II. The labor used to create this railway consisted of Asian civilians and Allied POWs. About 90,000 laborers and 12,000 POWs died during its construction due to sickness, maltreatment and starvation. This specific bridge is famous because a fictional book was written (and later adapted to film) about the construction of this bridge. The book received criticism because it simply does not portray the conditions as horribly as they actually were.

In addition to the bridge, there is a very beautiful and relatively new (as far as I could tell) Chinese temple on the river. It was incredibly peaceful to walk around. The temple was colorful and so well cared for. This past week I have been reading Buddha by Karen Armstrong. It is a somewhat biography of Siddhatta Gotama and a very good introduction to Buddhism. If anyone else has read it, I would love to hear your thoughts. A majority of Thais are Buddhist, and it has been very helpful to have at least a beginners knowledge of the philosophy.

It started raining soon after we got back to the hostel, so we spent the evening hanging out at the hostel. After a much slower van ride today, I arrived back in Bangkok just ahead of the afternoon rain.

Sorry, I had to.

Packing is the worst.

I leave in officially five days. I celebrated my last night in Spokane with some homemade pizza and a decent amount of wine. Gonna miss the Parental Unit. The last couple days have consisted of harassing said Parental Unit, packing, and tying up all the last loose ends here in the States: car insurance, health insurance, vaccinations, errands and even more fun. I keep waiting for my brain to freak out, but it still feels like the trip is a ways in the future. Some abstract thing that is happening to future-self. False. It is very much happening to near-future-self.

My packing strategy for previous trips has always been "if you think you might need it, bring it!" This doesn't work for an eight month trip. I have to carry all this crap around with me. I have about 1/3 as much space as I wish I did. Sigh.

This is how my packing went:

Start with some wine. Jump into sorting through and organizing all your clothes you didn't organize when you moved all your stuff to your parents house.

Then take some time out to pet the little cotton-ball. She hates packing as much as you do, and she has been moping around shooting sad glances in your direction.

Get down to a pile of stuff that contains all of the things you wish you could bring. Man you'd be so prepared! Ha. Too bad the clothes alone don't fit in your backpack.

Sort through all the clothing types. Get rid of clothes that aren't versatile, aren't durable, wont dry quickly and many other important practical reasons. Ok, this is looking like more controlled chaos. Time to organize and bag the toiletries, medications, and sunscreen.

Spend an entire afternoon evaluating the versatility of your packed wardrobe. Eliminate redundancy. Make sure all the colors work together. Argue with self. Complain to Parental Unit. Take a walk. Remove more stuff. Repeat.

Voila! We have a packed bag. I know that my list probably contains much more than the seasoned backpacker, but I can always get rid of (and/or acquire) more stuff in Asia! Or talk myself out of some more stuff in the morning. Here is the final list:

Main bag:
2 Shorts
3 Pants
1 Skirt
1 Dress
2 Long-sleeved shirts
1 Rain jacket
1 Tank Top
5 Shirts
1 Scarf
4 Headbands
1 Swimsuit
1 Pjs
3 Pairs long socks
2 Pairs short socks
9 Underwear
3 Bras
1 Towel
1 Dishtowel
1 Sheet
1 Pillowcase
1 Plastic poncho
1 Hat

Antibiotics
Electrolytes (in case of illness)
Advil
First aid kit
Sunscreen
Mosquito repellent (DEET!)
Tums
Probiotics (in case of illness)
Frisbee
Bowl and spork
Leatherman
Headlamp
Toiletries
Earrings
Large plastic bag
Clothesline
Combination locks
Duct tape
Sewing kit
Tiny pillow

Merrell sneakers
Chaco sandals
Black flats
Canvas slip-ons

Carry On Bag:
DSLR camera & lenses
Battery charger
Extra SD card & battery
iPhone & charger
Kindle & charger
Acer Chromebook & charger
Headphones
Book/sketchbook
Small daybag/purse
Wallet/cash/passport
Extra contacts
Glasses
Sunglasses
Anti-bacterial
Waterproof bag for electronics
International outlet converters
Waterbottle

I know that this list isn't particularly thrilling, but I will use this list to reflect on the wisdom (or lack there of) of my packing in future posts. But I'm done! That counts for something! Now it's time to head over to Seattle right? So I get to reward myself by hugging all my friends and eating all the food I won't be able to eat for the next eight months, right??!!?! Right.

Still wondering when my brain will realize this is actually happening. It started to get more serious after saying my first goodbye to one of my best friends last Sunday. It's feels much more of a 'see you later' than a 'good-bye.' I'm curious if I manage to make it all the way to Thailand before fully accepting the trip has started.

Once again: if you want mail, fill this out!

Hey Laurel! How's packing going?! 

Hello friends.

I think it's about time for me to get my first post going. I haven't done a lot of writing recently, so bear with me for the first few posts. Actually, just bear with me. Writing has never been my favorite thing.

In exactly fifteen days, I fly from Seattle to Bangkok, Thailand to begin a trip that I have been dreaming about for around a decade. Many of the decisions I have made in that time have been to make this trip possible, and now I'm actually leaving. I'm getting my vaccinations and starting to pack. This is actually happening people!!

I have been working towards taking a significant chunk of time of to travel for quite a while. It seems like it's possible to have either the time or the money, but it's a lot more difficult to have both. Now that I have managed to scrounge up a little bit of each, I'm off to explore. I don't plan to return to the States until next June. The first leg of my trip is a loop around Southeast Asia. Not only is it an area of the world that is much cheaper for travel than the United States or Europe, but it is significantly different from anywhere else I have ever been. I am traveling for an 'amount of money' not an 'amount of time,' so the wiser I am with my money, the longer I get to explore.

One of the main goals for my travels is to experience lifestyles and cultures that are unlike what I am accustomed to. It's pretty incredible to think that all the things that I take for granted as 'normal' things would seem incredibly strange to someone else and vice versa. I also plan to take on a variety of volunteer projects and stay in a few places for a longer time instead of a only a few days in more places. (If you or anyone you know has done any volunteer work in Asia, I would love to hear about their experience.) I look forward to gathering some new skills, as well as getting to know the areas that I will be living in from a perspective other than that of a tourist.

A majority of my trip is still up in the air (this is intentional to stay flexible), but I will tell you what I do know. The first thirty days will be spend in Thailand, some of them with one of my roommates from college, taking a couple of small trips out to beaches and such from Bangkok. I will then make my way east to the Siem Reap area in Cambodia. I will spend a decent time in this area, and find some volunteering to do around here. I'll then head over to the capitol Phnom Penh for some touristy things. Then the goal is to head north through Vietnam to meet my lovely friend Alski for Christmas and New Years.

I'll try to be good at updating this blog with at least a few pictures quasi-regularly.
If you'd like to get mail from me, please give me your address via this link. :)